In last Monday's report, we pointed out a handful of bearish developments but restated our neutral outlook on the crypto market.
We noted that there was demand coming from spot, while futures were still in the process of selling.
This continues to be the key theme to monitor; selling spot no longer appears to be the primary way savvy and large investors are going to cash.
Rather, they're doing it through shorting calendar futures driving down Bitcoin's term structure.
Since then, we've seen Bitcoin lose our risk level of 41,000 and are positioned heavily in cash.
We're anticipating a longer period of sideways price action, and this is a tape conducive neither to trading nor to establishing aggressive long positions.
The last time we discussed altcoins, we mentioned we were tactically shorting overbought names bouncing into supply while eyeing more intermediate-term long positions.
This approach paid off, with names like Gala $GALA and Sandbox $SAND succumbing to the selling pressure, booking a quick profit.
Moving forward, as we laid out in yesterday's note, the market's in a state of balance, and we have a neutral outlook.
This is the time when we're closely monitoring names showing leadership, waiting patiently for setups to solidify.
This will be a short and sweet note with three long trade ideas.
In last Monday's note, we discussed a variety of data points suggesting Bitcoin was in the beginning phases of carving out a tradable bottom.
We also mentioned that we anticipate a few weeks of sideways price action ahead of further upward price discovery. Since then, we've seen a handful of developments paint a more neutral picture.
Unlike spot prices, futures never flipped to buying and are still in a fairly strong regime of selling via calendar futures.
There's also been a gentle deleveraging of open interest and an increase in defensive positioning, as investors have been withdrawing capital off the back of geopolitical volatility.
Meanwhile, legacy markets continue to act as a headwind. Bitcoin and equity trading correlations remain high, and it's yet to be seen whether Bitcoin can front-run equity weakness, like what took place in October last year.
This all takes place as Bitcoin remains above our risk level of 41,000.
If you've been involved with crypto, chances are you've encountered a headline like this:
Crypto investors seem to appreciate these statistics. But most likely aren't aware that the mechanism of forced selling can provide an incredible wealth of information.
Believe it or not, we can use this data to manage risk, find future support and resistance zones, and even help piece together a macro directional bias.
In last week's report, we outlined a handful of bullish developments appearing as we waited for price action to respond.
We discussed the fact that the institutional money that left in October is flowing back, exchanges are seeing modest outflows, and traditional markets are looking prime for a tactical bounce.
Since then, we've seen Bitcoin rally to our inflection point between 41,000 and 42,000.
With momentum turning back in the favor of the bulls, the highest-likelihood scenario looks to be a few weeks of sideways price action ahead of further upside follow-through.
One of your close friends asks you about technical analysis. What do technicians do? "What even is technical analysis?" they ask.
Your first instinct is to dive down the rabbit hole of charts, indicators, and intermarket analysis. After your rambling, your friend is even more confused than before they asked.
That's the common mistake, one of the primary reasons why technical analysis often gets such a bad rap.
In the same way you wouldn't describe geography as the study of seismometers or biology as the field of microscopes, you'd be selling technical analysis short by arguing it's the study of indicators.
There's been little change in our approach since the publication of our previous Monday report, but we have seen a handful of data points in favor of the bulls.
As we'll cover in today's report, the institutional capital that left in October is starting to come back in, and exchanges have seen a moderate outflow over the last week.
Moreover, traditional markets seem set up for a tactical bounce. What has been a headwind could be turning into a tailwind.
These are great first stepping stones toward a more constructive picture for the crypto market, but one of our two criteria for more aggressive long positions has not been met as of yet. That is: